SHREVEPORT, La. -
Freshman Jessica Prousa led the competition in the all-around Friday evening at the triangular meet hosted by Centenary, as she recorded a career-best score of 37.775. However, Prousa's scores were not enough to land the Redbirds a first place title at their second away meet, as Centenary (189.300) and Texas Woman's (189.900) scores surpassed Illinois State's score of 189.100.

Prousa's beam performance scored a third place tie with a 9.700, which was also a career-high.

The Redbirds' top event score of the night occurred on vault, flying past both Centenary's and TWU's. All six vault competitors recorded a season-high in the event. Whitney Albright (9.675), Amanda Candler (9.550), Mary Hankosky (9.425), Carolina Posada (9.575), and Prousa (9.350) assisted in the high score of 48.025. Meaghan Koshman contributed a 9.800 to tie her season-best and landed first place overall on the event. Koshman also received a second place tie on her floor routine with a 9.725.

Head coach Bob Conkling believes that Friday night's first two events for the `Birds, the uneven bars and balance beam, were a little shaky but later the girls picked it up and came back to post better scores on vault and the floor exercise.

"We progressively got better as the meet went on," Conkling said. "I think we could have won this meet and I know we have more to show on balance beam and bars than what we showed tonight."

However, Conkling was very pleased about how the girls turned it around in the last two events. Candler, Koshman and Tove Fjordholm all performed well on their floor routines with minimal mistakes.

"We did really well on floor but the scores didn't show it," said Conkling. "Meaghan kept mentally strong after the two first events and her scores helped us out on the floor exercise and vault.

"Amanda's floor routine was really big for her. She posted a good score and had a really good meet. Her bar set was one of the best throughout the night. Tove also did a great job performing on floor."

Conkling thinks that with more consistency, everything will fall into place.

"It was really positive when we went into our last two events," Conkling said. "The vault exercise was our strongest and we remained consistent on it. Jessica (Prousa) also helped change things around for us. She placed well and did a really good job."

Redbird gymnasts will take a break for a week and then get back on the road to compete in Denton, Texas at the helm of Texas Woman's University. The meet will take place on February 17 at 7:00 p.m.